Reunion
After ten years, two lovers find each other again.
Three Days Ago
It all started three days ago.
Three days ago, it had been a cold, wet, depressing day. The rain had been pouring down since noon and it wasn't showing any signs of letting up by dawn. What had started as a light down pour had grown to a heavy and loud storm. The sound of millions of rain drops smacking the pavment or metal porch ceilings was almost deafening.
One particular black wolf didn't appear to be bothered by the weather at all. In fact, he was completely relaxed, dressed in a white wife beater and loose-fitting black gym shorts.
He was seated on his back porch, listening to the rainfall around him, smoking a cigarette, and amusing himself on his cell phone while the sun set and night fell.
He lived by himself in a small home, just outside the city, that his family had left him. There was nothing particularly special about him, just an average wolf in his late twenties.
He took another drag off his cigarette and blew it out with a satisfied sigh just as the storm began to rain harder around him. In the dark, the first crack of lightning was blinding as the thunder roared.
The wolf wasn't disturbed at all by the sudden light and noise. What did disturb him, however, was the sound of someone knocking on his front door.
He looked up from his phone and glanced over his shoulder toward the noise.
"Who could that be?" The wolf asked himself before putting his cigarette out in the ashtray beside him.
He got up and walked inside his home, across the building to the front door, unlocked the door, and pulled it open.
He saw another wolf standing there, dressed in a wet, grey overcoat.
At first, he didn't recognize the brown and white wolf at his door, looking down at the doormat. Almost intentionally avoiding eye contact.
"Hello, Devious. It's been awhile."
The female voice surprised him. It was very familiar, and when she looked up at him and met his bright yellow eyes with her deep green eyes, he knew exactly who she was.
He smiled and held the door open for her. "Leah... it has been awhile. Come on in."
Devious took her soaken coat off her as she stepped in and hung it up for her. This sure was a big surprise, after all, it had been nearly ten years since he had last seen her.
"Can I get you anything to drink, Leah?" He asked as he headed for the kitchen. His eyes were stuck on her, after so long, it seemed so random that she would suddenly turn up at his front door.
She didn't acknowledge his question right away. She just stood there with her arms wrapped around herself and looked around Devious's home. "Yes, umm, have you got anything strong? Jack and coke...if you got it."
Devious nodded his head and went to his liquor cabinet and made her a drink. When he brought it to her, she was seated on the sofa in front of the T.V. She had taken off her wet shoes and was running her fingers through her damp hair, trying to fix the mess the rain had made of it. At a glance he could tell something had brought her here, and it didn't look like it was anything cheerful.
He sat down beside her and handed her the glass. "Here."
She took it from him, gave him a grateful look that wasn't exactly a smile, more like a look of relief, and took a few sips from it.
"I'm sorry to just drop by like this, Devious."
Devious watched her take a few more sips before he responded. "Leah, I haven't seen you since high school. Is everything ok?"
Leah's paw started to shake when he asked her that. She put the drink down and covered her face for a moment. She was silent for a minute until she took a deep breath and let it out. She sniffled once, then had to clear her throat. When she spoke, even her voice was shaking. "Have you got a cigarette, Devious?"
It was hard to tell what Leah was struggling with without her talking to him, so Devious nodded his head and motioned for her to follow him to the back porch.
He slid open the door and walked out onto the porch where he had left his pack of smokes and lighter. Picking them both up he pulled two cigarettes out and handed one to Leah.
After lighting his, he handed the lighter to Leah and watched her shakily light hers. After a few puffs she began pacing and looking everywhere but at Devious. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, like she had been crying alot, but she looked to be generally healthy. Something bad had recently happened in her life, something big. But what?
"Leah..." Devious started to say, but she cut him off.
"I wanted to see you again Devious... I don't know why i waited so long to find you, but i just felt like i needed to see you again." She took another pull off her cigarette and then covered her eyes with her paw again. "I'm a wreck."
Devious wasn't sure what to say to her, they had dated back in high school and now, here they were, ten years later. She still had the beauty he remembered, but she did look like a wreck with how bad she was shaking. He could tell she had something to tell him, but it was hard for her to say. So he let her figure it out and waited for her to get the words out on her own.
When she finally moved her paw away from her face, her eyes were moist. "I just don't know where to begin."
Devious leaned back against the porch rail and looked her over. Noticing the big and small differences in her since the last time he'd seen her. Time hadn't really touched her over the years. He could see what ten years had done to her, and they weren't bad. But something was deffinatly hurting her now, so he reached out and took her paw. "Breath Leah."
She did, but it didn't do much to calm her shaking. He was beginning to feel worried when she finally said it. She pulled her paw out of Devious's and looked straight at him before saying "I got married, Devious. I've been married for seven years. As of yesterday...we are divorced."
Once she got the words out, it was like it drained her of the last of her strength. She put her arms around Devious and buried her face in his chest.
The feeling was too familiar. He wondered to himself 'Has it really been ten years? Or has it been ten days?'
Devious dropped his cigarette into the ashtray before scooping Leah up and carrying her back inside where he put down on the sofa.
As soon as he put her down, she let go of him and instead chose to bury her face in a cushion until she regained control of herself and could speak again. This time, her voice wasn't so weak, but it remained just as shaky as before.
"I built a life with him. For eight years, he was everything to me. After all that time, how could i have ment so little to him? I don't even know what to do anymore... I'm sorry Devious, i just felt like... you could help me."
This news that Leah had been married was a little shocking to Devious. It wasn't that crazy, she was a beautiful wolf and she was a great catch, but for some reason it surprised him. What surprised him more was that the marriage was over. She was completely torn apart by it. But why would she think a guy she knew ten years ago would be able to help her? What did he have to offer her?
"I'll help you however i can Leah. But i don't know how much i can do for you. Do you, er, need a place to stay? I have a spare room you can stay in for awhile."
Leah picked her glass back up and finished off the last few sips before she would look at Devious again. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea to come to you, but when everything had fallen apart, you were the only one i could think of. I don't need you to do anything for me, i just felt that you would be here for me."
Taking the empty glass from her paw, Devious rubbed her back a bit before taking it to the sink. Once he had sat back down beside her, he took a deep breath. "Well, you were right, Leah. I can be your friend. Whatever you need."
Just then, the thunder boomed loudly and lightning struck again. Leah jumped at the sound and yelped.
Looking out the window beside her, she started to laughed nervously. "I've gotta pull myself together. It's just some thunder." She watched the rain for a minute before turning back to Devious. "You said you had a room i could stay in?"
Devious nodded his head and stood up. "Yes, follow me, ill show you."
The spare room was just a small guest room down the hall from the living room, right across from his bedroom. It hadn't been used much since he rarely had guests overnight, but it was comfortable enough for a temporary stay.
"It's not much." Devious said before opening the door and turning on the light.
Leah looked over his shoulder into the small room and saw a twin bed with blue sheets that went well with the white paint. The carpet in this room noticeably saw less foot traffic. It was almost a different color. The walls were blank and the only other piece of furniture in the room was a dresser.
"I hope it'll do. If you want a shower, there's towels in the top drawer and the bathroom is next door." He pointed to the door beside the guest room.
Leah looked relieved to hear that and managed a small smile. "It's great, Devious. A shower sounds amazing right now. I just need to go get my bag."
She turned and walked down the hall toward the front door.
Devious watched her go, thinking to himself how strange this was. It was kind of surreal for Leah to have just walked back into his life so suddenly. Yet, now, it looked like she was going to be staying with him for awhile. Tonight, at least.
She was gone for only a minute, but, when she came back in she was soaked. That troubled look was back too. "How could i have forgotten to bring clothes?"
"That's a problem for tomorrow, Leah. I'll lend you some clothes to wear to bed." He gave her a smile in hopes that she would return it.
She did. She walked up to him, smiled, and met his eyes again. Her eyes were different from how he remembered them back in their high school days. They were a gorgeous, deep green, but there was something else there now. Maybe, it was just how puffy and red they were from crying, but he wasn't so sure.
"Careful with the hot water. It gets pretty hot".
While Leah was in the shower, Devious dug through his clothes, looking for something for her to sleep in. He was bigger than her, so most of his clothes were going to be huge on her small frame. After a couple minutes he finally pulled out a pair of sweat pants and threw them on his bed. Now he just had to find a shirt for her.
That took no time to find though. As he looked through his closet, he found an old, black, long-sleeved shirt at the back. On the front of the shirt 'WillMont High School' was spelled out in bold, white letters. Down both sleeves it said 'Cross Country'. The letters were almost worn away and there were some frayed threads.
Devious had forgotten he still had this shirt. He had got the shirt from his old high school team and he used to run in it every week.
"Perfect"
He took the shirt and sweat pants across the hall and set them on the bed before stepping outside for another cigarette while he waited for Leah to finish her shower.
When Devious stepped back in, Leah was already out of the shower. She had changed into the clothes he'd set out for her and, sure enough, they swallowed her. She was sitting on the sofa until he shut the door behind him.
She got up and walked over to him, a wide smile across her face. Before she said a word, she put her arms around him and hugged him.
"Thanks for everything Devious... really. I haven't thought about our school in years, but I'm going to bed now."
Devious hugged her back then watched her walk down the hall and dissappear into the guest room.
He didn't stay up much longer either. He washed the glass Leah had used earlier and put it away then decided to lay down too.
He left his clothes in a pile beside the bed, turned off the lights, then crawled under the blankets.
His thoughts lingered on the wolf across the hall for a minute. 'What happened to her?' Then, he was out.
Something disturbed his dreams. He was in a deep sleep, but now, he was awake. Some sound or movment had pulled him out of his sleep. Once he had his head together and returned to full consciousness, he became aware of someone else in his bed.
A sweet lavender scent filled his nose. "Leah?"
She snuggled up to him, grabbed his paws, and put them around her. Resting her head on his chest, she whispered to him.
"I'm sorry, Devious. I hope this is ok."
Devious did not object. He nodded his head and held her body against his. He just wished he had known she was going to crawl into bed with him before. Now that she was beside him, he was very aware of his nudity. 'Has she noticed?'
If she did, she didn't react to it at all. She may have already fallen aeleep, her breathing was calm and melodic. One paw rested on his chest, and the other lay at her side.
Devious dragged his nails gently up and down her back while he tried to go back to sleep himself. After a few minutes of silence, Leah spoke again. This time a little bit above a whisper.
"Are you sure this is ok? You don't want me to leave?"
"No, Leah, you're ok." He whispered back. "Do you want to sleep, or do you want to talk?"
Leah was silent at first, but then she spoke up. "Like i said, i haven't thought of our school in years. I had pretty much forgotten everything about high school...until i saw this shirt. It helped me remember alot that i had forgotten. Even you...and us."
Devious saw her eyes open and look up at him in the dark.
"I just couldn't sleep with my head buzzing with thoughts like that. Not while i was laying just a few feet from you. I just...had to get closer to you."
He could see a smile stetching across her face, loosing herself in these memories.
"Well, how much closer can you get to me now?"
He pressed her against his chest and she laughed.
"Oh, i can get much closer, Devious"
As Leah said it, he felt her paw reach under the sheets and cup his balls.
Devious jumped at that. He wasn't expecting her to just grab him like that. "Leah" was all he managed to say before she shushed him.
"Don't act so surprised, Devious, i knew you slept in the nude. I was counting on that when i got in bed." She leaned in and gave him a light kiss. "There's something you seem to have forgotten about me though"
After the kiss, Devious wasn't sure how to react to this so, he decided to just go with it.
"What's that?"
Fast as light, Leah sat up and got on top of Devious, spreading her legs over him and pressing her paws against his chest. As she did, the blankets fell off her and revealed her naked body.
"I sleep in the nude too."
Devious was stunned. How had he not noticed she was naked too? It didn't matter though. It was hard to think straight with two full, heavy breasts in his face. Leah hadn't changed at all in the last ten years.